Re: tqc or s2?

[Dave Eaton <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

thanks to glen, doug, andre, mike, ian for your messages...

well, to cut a long story short, i'm now the proud owner of a 1990 20v tqc !!!

it's black, pristine, 1 owner with 85km on it.

the dealer called me from auckland (my home town, where my business is, but i work in
wellington, 400miles away as a consultant).  he told me that he had the 20v and was i 
interested?  i said that i'd drop in if i had the time.  well it transpired that i was driving
past with my business partner on saturday, and so decided to stop of and have a look 
at the car.  saw it, and all the fond memories of my old 10v came back.  talked to gary
(the dealer -he sold me my s2), who ran some numbers, they were all right, we shook
hands on the deal, and i ran out the door.  it was literally no more than 5 minutes.  i
didn't even drive the car!

gary had 4 other people in line for the car.  3 were coming that afternoon, one with cash.
gary wanted the car to go to a good home, he knows that i look after the s2, and i don't
think he likes collectors (1 of the interested parties was a collector).  he dropped the
price for me from 65K to 58K as well, and offered to give the car a full service, repaint
the hood (stone chips), and anything else that was necessary to turn the car into full
show room condition.

i turned up on sunday to pick up the car and took it home for the day. 

what an absolutely bloody great car this is !!!!!!

it makes the s2 look silly quite frankly.  the car is so much more "alive" to drive than the
s2, so much more involving when you drive it hard on a good road, and gives you a greater
feeling of enjoyment and confidence.  it is a decisively better car than my old '85 10v tqc, it
handles better, the engine/response time is *much* better.  i also like the "hunkered down"
look of the car, it's macho agressive look after the s2's inoffensiveness.

positives are the much greater road feel in the car, more decisive handling with less
understeer, better brakes, better build quality, beautiful steering and fantastic sound.

negatives are the slow gearbox, the lack of air-con, the harsh low speed ride and the overall
refinement of the car.

i've handed the car back for the work to be completed, and will pick it up in 2 weeks time 
when i'm next in auckland.  i still haven't signed anything yet.  i much prefer to do business
with people on the basis of trust....

while i continue to live in 2 cities, i will drive both the s2 (wellington) and the 20v (auckland).
i will investigate the options in getting factory air-con fitted to the 20v.  i will sell the s2
when it's lease comes up.

when i picked the car up on sunday, the guy who owned one of the other two 20v tqc's in
the country turned up.  he'd sold his (it was 35km and immaculate when i was sniffing around
2-3 years ago), it had since gone through 3-4 owners and he'd said "been trashed".  he was
mortified that this black one had been sold as he'd wanted to buy it on the spot.  he'd been
too busy to come into the dealership on the saturday.  nice guy and a real enthusiast.

anyway, sorry for the ramble.  i just wanted to share with the list what a great car this 20v is.
it is a car you enthusiasts would get very attached to, in a way that the more modern s2
leaves you cold.

btw, audi are flying a few quattro owners to a race course in auckland in 10 days where
i'll get the chance to meet and drive with hannu mikkola (1983 world rally champion), and
brad jones who campaigns an a4q in the aussi touring car championships.  we'll get the
chance to drive the a8q, the s6, and the mtm 286hp a4tq.  should be fun.  i'll keep you
posted....

cheers,
-dave.